China is deliberately singling out Australia to intimidate the region
Yesterday’s ugly, viciously confrontational Chinese tweet insulting Australia has been instructive to onlookers. Flat White asked a seasoned Asian diplomat…
Young and free – but who’s Gert?
The Premier of New South Wales has suggested that one word of our national anthem should now be changed to…
They’re different in Queensland
As the child of migrant parents, growing up in Brisbane, I learned fast that Mexicans were not, as I had…
Their ABC and ‘secret lovers’
This morning Their ABC ran early news bulletins that used the phrase ‘secret lover’ referencing the Premier of New South…
A development binge and budget fears cloud Canberra’s looming Legislative Assembly poll
With the ACT election six just days away, Canberrans, however deep their Labor loyalties, are beginning –just — to realise…
What you didn’t hear at the Press Club last week
Last week Wang Xining, China’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Canberra, addressed the National Press Club, a speech widely reported…
Anthony Albanese’s capital punishment?
Elections; not state, not federal — but territory — are in the air. The NT votes late next month, followed…
Standing for Hong Kong
First, they came for the Tibetans, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Tibetan. Then they…
Eden-Monaro: a bellwether seat on a knife’s edge — and a canary in a coal mine?
A summer evening by the river; a band playing movie themes, light classical and marches, kids, dogs, families sprawled on…
In the navy, you can do gender studies; in the navy, learn ’bout feminist theories…
The Australian Defence Force is calling for military personnel to go on a $12,000 Gender Peace and Security course ……
After their $60 billion blunder will our shinybums start speaking English, not bureaucratese?
“Look, that’s the Treasury. That’s where they keep the money.” The dad was pointing out Canberra landmarks to his small…
We are no longer alone staring down China
Insiders panellist and ABC host Raf Epstein observed last Sunday that it would have been better if Australia hadn’t chosen…
Those nosy neighbours are watching
“They’re not happy with you.” My friend Mary takes a sip of her green tea and beams. I don”t know…
Hey, Beijing. Min yi shi wei tian
Did we really need to get into a diplomatic spat with China while battling the restrictions placed on us by…
What can we learn from the journals of the plague years?
Two of Britain’s most famous writers have left us accounts of the plague years. They were Daniel Defoe, journalist, pamphleteer,…
How to save the surplus
The Australian Embassy Recreational Club is a handsome, French colonial-era building with a swimming pool, manicured garden and extensive space…
The Minister, Sir Humphrey and Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s grant
The Australia Council was the creation of the Whitlam government and, in the last round of grant recipients, to the…
Their ABC, biased? Nepotistic? Nah!
Richard Alston was minister for communications for around half the life of the Howard government. In that portfolio, he made…
Gillian Triggs is now at the United Nations – UN for unreliable on human rights?
How would you feel discovering that your local or state government had entered into an agreement with, say, McDonald’s to…
Malcolm Turnbull: The Ghost Who Talks
I believe in ghosts. Most Sri Lankan-born men, women or children generally believe in the misty world of ghosts, spirits…
Cancel culture’s double fault against Margaret Court
There’s a new phrase du jour to describe methods in current use by the aggrieved and disaffected, those that feel called…
Will two tigers clash over Sri Lanka – India and China?
Elections in the subcontinent often have a ‘nothing to see here’ feeling, mainly because, through a heritage of colonial rule,…
Andrew Hastie and James Paterson are safe on our soil, but where are Liu Hu and Dong Rubin?
Senator James Paterson and West Australian Liberal Andrew Hastie have stoutly and correctly refused to ‘repent’ as requested by the…
Labor learns the limits of identity politics
As usual, Shakespeare said it best: The weight of this sad time we must obey Speak what we feel, not…
What now for Hong Kong – and our China appeasers?
Working at Radio Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution was my first introduction to politics in China. It was a…
